RUSSELL HEADS SCOTS CHALLENGE IN CZECH REPUBLIC

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
There's a five-man tie for the lead heading into the weekend at the D+D Real Czech Challenge Open, as inspired performances from Englishmen Robert Dinwiddie and Adam Gee were matched by Italy’s Andrea Pavan and Spaniards Adrian Otaegui and Carlos Aguilar.

With Golf and Spa Kunetická Hora basking in warm sunshine and almost no breeze, scoring was highly impressive once again as joint best-of-the-week rounds of 64 from both Dinwiddie and Pavan set a 36-hole aggregate total of 132 – 12 under par – with Gee, who posted a second consecutive 66, overnight co-leader Otaegui, who shot 68, and Aguilar, who late in the day joined the fray after a five under par 67. 

Three Scots - Raymond Russell, Andrew McArthur and Jack Doherty - made the cut with sub-par totals.
Joint leader after the first round, England’s Francis McGuirk posted a three under par 69 on Friday to sit one shot back alongside Spaniard Agustin Domingo, who signed for a five under par 67.

After some late movement around the cut-line, 71 players made the weekend on three under par including former European Tour champion Jeppe Huldahl, who equalled the low round of the week to make the cut on the number – this despite using a set of rented clubs after his were lost en route to the Czech Republic. 

Following a 68 in the first round, three-time Challenge Tour winner Dinwiddie put on a putting masterclass at Kuneticka Hora on Friday, holing countless birdie putts from ten feet or more en route to his unblemished 64.

The Newcastle native found five birdies in a front nine 31 – including three in a row from the fifth – before further gains on the back nine at the long 11^th, short 13^th and closing par four 18^th. 

Dinwiddie will play in the final group on Saturday alongside long-time friend and compatriot Gee, the two having competed previously for England as amateurs, a point the 30 year old said inspired his birdie finish.

“I was great to pick a shot up at the last as I was trying to get in the last group with ‘Gee-man’,” said Dinwiddie. “It’ll be nice to play with him, we’ve been mates for ten years and I live in London near him now and we spend a lot of time together at home.

He continued: “Everyone knows I had a slow start to the season; I took a break and went travelling for a little bit but it feels good to be back and back in contention now.”

Pavan, who finished second in the Challenge Tour Rankings in 2011, has been solid if unspectacular so far in his return to the second tier of European golf, but that all changed during a magnificent second round in Pardubice.

The Roman made five birdies in a front nine 31 – with a quartet on the spin from the fifth – before adding a further three on the back nine at the 11^th, 13^th and 18^th.

“I’m hitting my irons so good,” he reflected. “They are just giving me a good feeling this week and I managed to stiff a few close.

“My game has been okay for the last few weeks and I figured it was just a matter of time before it all came together – thankfully that was today!”

Three Czech players made the cut, including Stanislav Matus, who shot a four under 68 for a share of 24^th at the halfway stage, while Ondrej Lieser, the leading home player in 2012, posted 70 to sit in a tie for 31^st at five under par. 

Lukas Tintera faced a nervous wait to see if he would make the weekend after shooting one under in the morning session, but eventually learned he would make the cut on the mark at three under par.
The Scots who failed to make the cut were Duncan Stewart, who missed out by one with his two-under-par aggregate of 142 (68-74), Wallace Booth (72-71 for 143), Jamie McLearly (70-74 for 144), 
Steven O'Hara (70-75 for 145) and Gavin Dear (75-72 for 147).
 

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

Par 144 (2x72)

132 A Gee  (Eng) 66 66, C Aguilar  (Esp) 65 67, A Pavan (Ita) 68 64, R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 68 64, A Otaegui  (Esp) 64 68,

133 A Domingo (Esp) 66 67, F McGuirk  (Eng) 64 69,

134 R Russell (Sco) 67 67, B Hafthorsson (Isl) 69 65, L Kennedy  (Eng) 69 65,

135 B Hebert  (Fra) 68 67, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 68 67,

136 D Frittelli (RSA) 67 69, J Guerrier  (Fra) 67 69, J Fahrbring (Swe) 68 68, N Ravano (Ita) 66 70, D Ulrich (Sui) 68 68, S Walker (Eng) 71 65, F Calmels  (Fra) 67 69, P Oriol (Esp) 67 69,

137 S Kim (SKor) 65 72, O Farr (Wal) 67 70, L Corfield  (Eng) 69 68

138 G Shaw (Nir) 69 69, G Houston (Wal) 67 71, N Elvira  (Esp) 68 70, M Crespi  (Ita) 70 68, C Russo (Fra) 67 71, A McArthur  (Sco) 67 71, S Matus  (Cze) 70 68

139 T Fournier  (Fra) 70 69, M Sell  (Eng) 71 68, M Trappel  (Aut) 72 67, C Hanson (Eng) 71 68, B Ritthammer (Ger) 69 70, B Parker  (Eng) 67 72, M Ford (Eng) 66 73, O Lieser (Cze) 69 70, S Manley (Wal) 72 67, J Heath  (Eng) 70 69, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 73 66, O Rozner  (Fra) 69 70

140 S Davis (Eng) 71 69, N Meitinger  (Ger) 71 69, C Brazillier  (Fra) 71 69, C Gane (Eng) 66 74, G Cambis  (Fra) 71 69, C Suneson (Esp) 72 68, B Hemstock (Eng) 73 67, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 72 68, S Fallon (Eng) 70 70, M Haines  (Eng) 67 73, J Doherty  (Sco) 67 73, L Richard (Bel) 70 70, K Borsheim  (Nor) 72 68, B An (SKor) 68 72

141 N Quintarelli (Ita) 70 71, J Huldahl (Den) 77 64, J Watts (Eng) 68 73, A Bossert (Sui) 70 71, S Tiley (Eng) 70 71, J Lima  (Por) 69 72, W Besseling  (Ned) 71 70, B Koepka  (USA) 70 71, C Devlin (Nir) 69 72, D Geminiani (Ita) 73 68, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 69 72, L Claverie (Esp) 71 70, J Mommo  (Fin) 72 69, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 66 75, L Tintera  (Cze) 71 70

MISSED THE CUT

142 T Remkes (Ned) 70 72, T Murray (Eng) 67 75, N Kearney (Irl) 71 71, A Bernadet  (Fra) 72 70, J Senior (Eng) 72 70, T Pulkkanen  (Fin) 70 72, D Stewart (Sco) 68 74, A Johansson (Swe) 72 70, S Whiffin (Eng) 74 68, J Dantorp (Swe) 70 72, F Praegant (Aut) 71 71, R Hjelm (Den) 72 70, M Haastrup  (Den) 71 71

143 A Rota (Ita) 74 69, F De Vries  (Ned) 71 72, L Weber (Fra) 72 71, H Bacher (Aut) 71 72, R Kellett (Sco) 69 74, J Abbott (Eng) 72 71, D Griffiths  (Eng) 73 70, I Korvenmaa (Fin) 72 71, M McGeady (Irl) 75 68, W Booth  (Sco) 72 71, J Hepworth (Eng) 73 70, J Clément  (Sui) 74 69, Š Zach (am) (Cze) 74 69

144 P Maddy (Eng) 74 70, S Jeppesen  (Swe) 76 68, F Colombo (Ita) 72 72, J Carlsson (Swe) 75 69, J Moul  (Eng) 75 69, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 71 73, J Wahlqvist (Swe) 75 69, J McLeary  (Sco) 70 74

145 G Piris Mateu (Esp) 72 73, O Wilson (Eng) 74 71, J Bragulat  (Esp) 73 72, P Relecom  (Bel) 74 71, J Ruth  (Eng) 73 72, T Nørret (Den) 74 71, A Ahokas (Fin) 76 69, N Floren (Swe) 71 74, S O'Hara  (Sco) 70 75

146 F Laporta (Ita) 74 72, J Mikkelsen (Nor) 71 75, B Chapellan (Fra) 74 72, D Wuensche  (Ger) 74 72, P Dwyer (Eng) 74 72, F Svanberg  (Sui) 73 73, J Pastor Lopez (Esp) 77 69, D Perrier (Fra) 76 70

147 J Whitehouse (Aus) 75 72, N Lemke (Swe) 71 76, Z Scotland  (Eng) 76 71, J Winer (Eng) 74 73, C Aronsen  (Nor) 73 74, A Hansen  (Den) 74 73, G Dear (Sco) 75 72, J Lerchedahl (Den) 76 71

148 R Nechanicky (Cze) 75 73, R Schovanek (Cze) 73 75

149 P Nic (Cze) 78 71, M Novy  (Cze) 75 74, X Ruiz Fonhof  (Ned) 75 74, N Dougherty  (Eng) 75 74

150 R Hahn (Hun) 75 75, D Suchan (am) (Cze) 75 75

151 M Haremza (Ger) 77 74, P Svajlen (Svk) 76 75, J Bares (am) (Cze) 79 72

152 J Gibb (Eng) 77 75, F Juhaniak (Cze) 77 75, F Mruzek (Cze) 78 74

153 M Veijalainen (Fin) 82 71

154 P Edberg (Swe) 79 75, J Stryncl (Cze) 80 74, D Zelinka (am) (Cze) 80 74

156 C Ford (Eng) 76 80

157 W Wray (Eng) 77 80, A Engell  (Nor) 78 79

158 L Lizanek (Cze) 81 77

159 J Krejcar (Cze) 82 77, A Rajmont (am) (Cze) 83 76

171 P Dedek (am) (Cze) 86 85